Fall Sketchbook: Coastal Pumpkins, Oysters & Lighthouse Art

Salty Skies, Pumpkins & Oysters

October always feels like a creative shift for me. Salty summer light giving way to cozy fall colors. I love a bright July day and a saturated summer sunset, but something about the sunlight filtering through the yellow and orange leaves on the tree just makes everything glow with warmth. A feeling I constantly try and capture in paintings. You’ll find me painting Cape Cod summer seascapes year round, but this time of year I also lean into pumpkins, night skies, and holiday test pieces. Here are a few favorites from my sketchbook this fall.

Metallic Pumpkin Studies

metallic green pumpkin watercolor study — Color-shifting metallic mixes, a mix of sea green and coastal fall. Pumpkins in different shapes and textures. As captivating to look at as they are to paint!.

pumpkin metallic color combo fun — Color-shifting metallic mixes, a mix of sea green and coastal fall. Pumpkins in different shapes and textures. As captivating to look at as they are to paint!.

Autumn Marshes

autumn marsh Cape Cod watercolor — Warm fall sunsets and reflections over glowing grass in an October marsh".

Harvest Moon

Fall Flowers

red and orange sunflower painting — I didn’t paint as many fall flowers as I would have liked this month. But I picked this sunflower from my garden so I could do a little floral study

Metallic Oysters

oyster shell watercolor with metallic shimmer — I sat down to paint more metallic pumpkins one night, but these came out instead. And I’m so happy they did! This page was so fun to paint, and it’s so captivating to look at in the light. I have a video on my Tik Tok page. This page inspired a collection of oyster mini paintings for my fall markets this past month. I hope to paint a large version of this over the winter. Stay tuned!.

Color studies and swatches

sunset color study — Anytime I sit at my desk not knowing what to paint, I start painting swatches. It’s so soothing for the mind. I added a couple new colors to my palette this month so I got to play around with them in my sketchbook

sunset color study in watercolor — Anytime I sit at my desk not knowing what to paint, I start painting swatches. It’s so soothing for the mind. I added a couple new colors to my palette this month so I got to play around with them in my sketchbook

Fall Lighthouse

Nobska Lighthouse fall watercolor — One of my favorite paintings I did this fall. Inspired by Nobska Lighthouse in fall. I had hoped to do more fall and spooky lighthouses but ran out of time. Maybe next year!"

Materials I Reached For

Moonglow & Payne’s Gray, Alz Crimson, Raw Sienna, Quin Orange/ Aussie Gold
Metallic watercolors from Dreamland Watercolors
Round brushes (sizes 6 & 8)
Sketchbooks: Pentalic (not my favorite), Arches travel sketchbook (love the paper, hate the spiral binding), Handmade sketchbook (delicate, but beautiful texture)

What’s Next

Holiday ornaments, oyster prints, and cozy minis arrive 10/30. Email friends get first peek and early access.

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